Gore, Al (1948–)

Albert arnold gore, jr. is an influential American politician and statesperson who served as vice-president and was influential in the development of the Internet, as well as being a leading voice in the campaign for preservation of the environment.

Gore followed in the footsteps of his father, a politician, in the Democratic Party after completing his education and serving as a volunteer in the Vietnam War as a reporter. He entered the House of Representatives in 1976 and then took a seat in the Senate in 1984, serving the state of Tennessee. In 1988, he tried but failed to secure the Democratic nomination for president, which was secured by Michael Dukakis. In 1998, William J. “Bill” Clinton selected him as his running mate. Gore was subsequently for two terms vice president, the 45th of U.S. history.

Selected to run for president in the 2000 election, Gore was defeated only by court action after having won a majority of the popular vote across the country and as a result of intensely controversial vote-counting procedures in the state of Florida. Speculation continues as to whether he will make a further attempt to be elected Democratic president. He has earned a reputation in his political career for earnestness, attention to detail, and mastery of policy. However, he was not able to project himself as a popular communicator.

Since 2000, Gore has concerned himself to a considerable extent with the environment, to which he has given voice throughout his political career. In Earth in the Balance, first published in 1992, Gore expressed the opinion that human society was plunging the earth headlong into a total environmental catastrophe. While he argued that it was possible for capitalism and democracy combined [Page 803]to bring about solutions to the problems that have been caused, the type and nature of change required significantly outweighed the political will available to necessitate change. Consequently, it would be necessary for a groundswell of public opinion to emerge to demand radical political change.

While Gore has positioned himself in political life as a moderate, and while he has not often called for radical change, his more recent efforts have begun to assert more radical strategies. In An Inconvenient Truth, (2006), Gore outlines in detail the many forms of proof of global climate change, its causes, and likely implications. The book was accompanied by a multimedia campaign led by Gore, aimed at persuading those remaining members of the public of the facts and the science of environmental change (it became a widely viewed film in 2006). This campaign was aimed at stirring public consciousness and encouraging a mass movement determined for change, raising questions about source of the inertia that maintains the status quo. He has also spoken out against President George W. Bush's foreign policy, specifically with respect to Iraq. He personally commanded an attempt to rescue people from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.